Dawnseekers

The North

Comprising all of the land of Westeros from the Neck to the Wall, The North is the largest and wildest of the Kingdoms of Westeros. Sparsely populated, it retains more creatures of bygone ages than the southern half of the continent. The last tribes of Children of the Forest remaining in Westeros live almost exclusively in the North, and the only giants south of the Wall as well. Dire beasts of every variety are much more common in this rugged land than in the south, and weirwood groves are found in greater abundance than anywhere else.

The North is ruled by House Stark, and the head of the house is known as the King of Winter. The current King of Winter is Gaven Stark, and his house’s legacy is in peril. During the Longest Night, Gaven and all six of his sons set forth to treat with the Children in order to beg their help in defeating the Others, and did not return to Winterfell until the foe was turned back. He returned alone, a haunted and changed man, appearing a decade older and now without an heir.

To the east, the ever-ambitious House Bolton musters support within the Dreadfort, and many northmen expect the Flayed Man to clash with the Direwolf any moment.

The North, unsurprisingly, supports The Night’s Watch more strongly than any other kingdom. Nearly every family in the kingdom sends its second sons to take the black, and does it proudly. The horrors of the Longest Night are still fresh in the minds of northmen, and they are not shy about making sacrifices in order to help defend against any repeat of that bleak winter.

One of the most notable features of geography in the North is The Wolfswood. This vast forest primeval covers as much ground as the entire kingdom of Dorne, and is replete with weirwoods, sentinels, and soldier pines that have stood for centuries (or millenia in the case of some weirwoods). Packs of direwolves roam dozens strong, dire bears stand twenty feet tall, and giants still live as they have for thousands of years, all without ever leaving this ancient wood.